Oklahoma Voters To Return To Polls For August Runoffs

Rob Seale, the LeFlore County sheriff candidate headed for an Aug. 28 primary election run-off with incumbent Sheriff Bruce Curnutt, said although he was disappointed by low voter turnout, he is happy with Tuesday’s election results.

According to LeFlore County Election Board staff, there are 26,845 registered voters in LeFlore County. Only 5,873 cast ballots in the Democratic sheriff’s primary election.

Seale noted that the results were close, with Curnutt receiving 36.3 percent of the vote and Seale receiving 30.31 percent.

According to county and state election board records, in the final unofficial tally, first-term incumbent Curnutt of Wister received 2,132 votes, retired Poteau police officer Seale 1,780, Shady Point Police Chief Kendall Morgan 1,517 and Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Office investigator Eric Helms of Pocola received 444 votes.

Seale said he plans to “roll up his sleeves and get to work” on winning first the Democratic nomination and then the Nov. 6 general election.

He said the most significant difference between himself and Curnutt is the ability to provide good, positive leadership in the office. Seale credits his experience as a Marine Corps officer for that skill in running a department.

Curnutt said his law enforcement supervisory experience is the key difference between him and Seale. The sheriff said he has served as chief of police for two police departments and sheriff for the past four years whereas his opponent served as a patrol officer for 21 years.

Of the four-candidate race and resultant runoff, Curnutt said he traveled that route in his first sheriff’s campaign. He said he also went into that runoff with a lead, then widened it, and intends to use the same door-to-door campaign strategies for this runoff.

In Oklahoma, to win a race, a candidate must receive the majority of all the votes cast in the race. The winner of the Aug. 28 runoff will face Republican candidate for sheriff, Billy Shropshire of Summerfield, in November.

LeFlore County and Sequoyah County voters are among voters in 26 counties who will decide in the runoff election their Republican and Democratic candidates for the District 2 U.S. House of Representatives seat being vacated by Dan Boren of Muskogee. Boren is the only Oklahoma Democrat holding a congressional seat.

Of the six Republican contenders, George Faught of Muskogee, a three-term state representative, and Markwayne Mullin of Westville, a business owner, head to the runoff. Mullin received 42.42 percent of the vote or 12,004 votes, and Faught came in second with 23.24 percent or 6,578 votes. Trailing were Dakota Wood of Claremore with 12.28 percent or 3,474 votes; Dustin Rowe of Tishomingo with 10.13 percent or 2,866 votes; Wayne Pettigrew of McAlester with 8.75 percent or 2,477 votes; and Dwayne Thompson of Fort Gibson with 3.18 percent or 901 votes.

In local results, LeFlore voters favored Mullin first and then Pettigrew, and Sequoyah voters favored Mullin first and then Rowe.

Of the three Democratic contenders for the congressional seat, in district-wide results, Rob Wallace of Fort Gibson, a former state and federal prosecutor, and Wayne Herriman of Muskogee, a business owner, head to the runoff election. Wallace received 46.13 percent of the vote or 31,714 votes; Herriman received 41.57 percent or 28,576 votes; and Earl Everett of Fort Gibson received 12.3 percent or 8,457 votes.

Locally, LeFlore and Sequoyah voters also favored Wallace first and then Herriman.

First-term incumbent Sequoyah County Sheriff Ron Lockhart of Sallisaw easily bested challenger Silas A. “Sam” Hill Jr. of Sallisaw, a retired law enforcement officer, 2,614-832 or with 75.86 percent of the Democratic primary vote. Lockhart will face Republican Larry Lane of Vian in the November election.

Lockhart also expressed dismay for low voter turnout in his county.

According to county and state election board data, 3,446 of Sequoyah County’s 21,309 registered voters cast ballots in the sheriff’s race.

Lockhart said he and his office have worked hard in the past four years chasing down criminals, and will continue to work hard going forward “to do what we promised the people of Sequoyah County we’d do.”